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Jack Thomas Smith interview

Jack
Thomas Smith made his feature film-directing debut with the
psychological thriller “Disorder.” He was also the writer and
producer of that film. “Disorder” was released on DVD by
Universal/Vivendi and New Light Entertainment. It was released on
Pay-Per-View and Video-On-Demand by Warner Brothers. Overseas, it
screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the Raindance Film Festival
in London. Curb Entertainment represented “Disorder” for foreign
sales and secured distribution deals around the world.

Jack Thomas Smiths
most recent project Infliction is found footage horror film centered
on two North Carolina brothers who go on a murder spree.

Where
did you grow up?

I grew up in Sparta, New Jersey.
It’s a middle-class suburban town about 45 minutes outside of NYC.
A great place to live. All roads seem to lead back to Sparta. Most of
the investors on “Infliction” are friends I know in Sparta, or
friends I grew up with.

What
did your parents do?

My dad has always worked in the
corporate field in sales. He worked for years at BASF before starting
his own corporation called S&S Industries. He’s very successful
and has always been driven.

My mom has worked in the corporate
field as well. She’s primarily done accounts/receivable work. My
mom’s about as aggressive as they come. Lol.

My parents went the traditional
route of finding corporate jobs and they provided a great life for my
younger brother and I. But they also really loved movies. They had a
passion for movies that rubbed off on me. When I was a teenager, my
father and I would watch movies together and we’d break them
down... We’d talk about what the films meant... What the director
was trying to say... The imagery and symbolism in certain scenes...
I’ve never been able to mindlessly watch movies, which is a good
thing, because I feel this has helped me in my career.

Where did you go to school?

To be honest, I
never went to college. I started writing when I was really young...
It was just something I loved to do. And then when I was in my
late-teens I went to the library and took out a book... “How to
Write Screenplays”... Lol. And I followed the instructions. I
learned how to structure a screenplay... The plot points, etc. I also
learned the mechanics of formatting a screenplay. Once I had that
down, I was able to apply the actual story to the proper screenplay
layout. And it also helped that I had spent years before that
studying films in my living room with my dad and breaking them down
as I mentioned earlier... I wouldn’t recommend this route to
everyone. But this is what worked for me.

When did you get your first camera
and what kind was it?

It was a Super 8mm movie camera and
I got it when I was 13. It was awesome. I shot a bunch of horror
shorts and comedy shorts with my brother and friends in the
neighborhood. It was a great learning experience. I learned the
process of getting coverage... And shooting one actor’s lines at a
time and cutting it together. In other words, I didn’t shoot an
entire scene in one take with the camera swinging back and forth from
one actor to the next. I isolated each actor’s performance and cut
it together... At least I tried to as best as I could. Lol. It was a
lot of fun and we still have those old films. Every here and there we
watch them for a laugh.

As a writer director you are a
storyteller. What made you chose to tell your stories on film?

I’ve always loved movies. It goes
back to the first time I saw “Star Wars.” I was 8 years old when
it came out and I was absolutely blown away. I wanted to know how
they did everything... From the casting to shooting to the special
effects. I wasn’t just a fan of that movie... I wanted to learn how
they did everything so I could do it. So I read every magazine or
book I could get my hands on about the making of “Star Wars”
(that was long before the internet, lol). Shortly after that, I read
“The Shining” by Stephen King and that changed my life as well. I
started writing horror stories obsessively. So essentially I married
my love for writing with my love for films. I knew at a very young
age that I wanted to write and make films. I’ve done this ever
since... Whenever I write a screenplay, I plan to shoot it myself. I
never go in thinking that I’ll sell it or that someone else will
direct it... I want to have complete control over my vision. So if
you watch the two films that I wrote and directed – “Disorder”
and “Infliction” – that’s my vision 100%.

Is there a specific film that made
you think you could do what you saw on screen?

Definitely “Star Wars.” That was
the first film that hit me as a kid. After that, there were a number
of other films that influenced me... “Dawn of the Dead” (the
original); “Night of the Living Dead”; “Rocky”; “The
Shining”; “The Crow”; “Goodfellas”; “Carrie”;
“Scarface”; “Taxi Driver”; “Jaws”; “Halloween”; “The
Fog”; “The Thing”, “Apocalypse Now”, etc. As you can see
I’m a huge fan of Brian DePalma, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick,
John Carpenter, and George Romero... I love films that make you
think.

Your latest film Infliction was
released on July 1st, how would you describe it?

“Infliction” is a disturbing
assembled footage film that documents a murder spree committed by two
brothers in North Carolina... And the horrific truth behind their
actions. It’s brutal and gritty. Very dark. But as you watch
“Infliction”, you’ll find yourself asking who are the true
victims here and who are the true criminals.

Why did you choose to tell your
story using the found footage format over conventional narrative?

I shot “Infliction” as found
footage because the story dictated that. In other words, I didn’t
set out to shoot a “found footage” film. In the film, the
brothers are filming their actions for a reason. The cameras play an
important part as to why they’re doing what they’re doing. There
are some other “found footage” films where you’ll see people
running from a monster and you’re yelling at the screen for them to
put down the damn camera and run. I didn’t want to do that with
“Infliction.” I wanted it to make sense why they’re shooting
everything... And as the film plays out, you’ll see why the cameras
are so important to them.

As a writer/director are you
protective of your work as a writer?

Absolutely! You have to be. Anytime
I write a screenplay, I get a copyright before I send it anywhere.
Unfortunately, there’s bad people out there that want to steal
other peoples’ ideas and/or screenplays and claim it as their own.
I couldn’t imagine doing that. Every screenplay that I write means
something to me. That’s why I’m doing it. It’s my passion and
it’s what I love to do. But there’s people out there that want
quick success and they want to take shortcuts instead of putting in
the hard work that it takes to get there. Yeah, I’m very protective
of my work.

What attracts you to the horror
genre?

I’ve always been a fan of the
genre. “Dawn of the Dead” is my all-time favorite horror film.
I’ve always loved that rush when watching a horror film... You’re
on the edge of your seat... You don’t know what’s around the
corner... Your heart’s racing because you don’t know what to
expect next. It’s a lot of fun. No different than going on a
rollercoaster. From a filmmaking standpoint, horror movies are a
blast to make. It’s cool watching the effects on set... Creating
the mood with the lighting and locations... Plus, you don’t need
A-list actors when making a horror film. If you look at some of the
greatest horror films ever made – “Halloween”, “Nightmare on
Elm Street”, “Friday the 13th”, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” –
they were low-budget films without known actors. Horror is the one
genre where you can make a quality, marketable film on a small
budget.

Your first feature Disorder was
released in 2006. Is it harder to get your film noticed now than it
was 8 years ago?

It is. Back when I did “Disorder”,
most movies were shot on film. So you had to have a certain amount of
money to make a movie. There weren’t as many indies being made.
“Disorder” was shot on Super 16mm, which gave it the gritty look
I was going for. But today with digital cameras, anyone can make a
movie. And the market is flooded with indies... With so many indies
out there now, it’s getting harder and harder to get your movie
noticed. I was fortunate that I went back to my sales rep, Jeff
Cooper of Cut Entertainment Group, who handled “Disorder”and
negotiated the deal with Universal/Vivendi, and he was able to secure
distribution for “Infliction” with Virgil Films &
Entertainment.

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